Adire Rave opinions wanted

I am interested in the Adire Rava subwoofer. However I've had a hard time finding reviews and opinions on it. I will use it for 50/50 music/ht, and with its modest price would probably corner load it for maximum room gain, and then EQ it flat with a Behringer Feedback Destroyer. This seems to me like a decent way to maximize its output, using room gain to help lower the wattage/xmax required for a given spl and eqing down the peaks. I'll be crossing @ either 50 or 80 hz with a Paradigm X-30 (3rd order hi/lo pass) to my mains (ACI Opals). Am I on the right path here?

Also, I'd be VERY interested in comparisons between the Rava and other subs, especially commercial ones. Like I said, I've had a hard time finding many reviews (yes I've seen the ones on Adire's website) so any impressions from users who've heard it would be helpful.

Mike Knapp of Home theater talk reviewed it, do a search there and you'll find it. I had the Tempest instead of the Shiva in a small sealed box with the same amp as the Rava in a 3000 cuft room and it was great for music but not as great for HT with subsonic effects. Hope this helps.

The box was 120L net and the system Q was about .75 with stuffing, I think. There was a giant room hump at 50 Hz and no I didn't try to EQ it. I thought about it but BFDs are intimidating. Instead I built the vented 340L EBS Tempest alignment which helped big time with low response but not so much with the peaks. I am still contemplating the BFD though.

I've been quoted from several local proaudio shops @ ~ $230 cdn. Seems reasonable, although I may wait to get one on sale, a local store (in Waterloo Ont) is having a 'midnight madness' sale in Feb. and say they will be substantially reduced.

I am actually thinking of the Rava+BFD setup as a way to address the hometheater shortcomings I've read about in some comments on the Rava. It may be an inexpensive sub, but I'm not a wealthy man, and the Rava would be a very substantial investment for me, so I would rather not be let down with one aspect of its performance.

The only other sub I've listened to on a regular basis is one of the 10" NHT sealed box subs, which was nice, but lacking in output a little.

The Rava is discussed extensively and gets consistent raves at audio sites such as the audioasylum. You can do searches there.

I would up building a sealed diy Tempest, the Rava's bigger 15" brother, because the cost difference of the raw drivers was minimal, I was planning to use it in a huge room, and I figured why the heck not! But if diy hadn't been an option I almost certainly would have gone for the Rava.

I've heard good things about the RAVA sub. Since you own ACI speakers, you might also want to consider the ACI Force. I have heard it, and it is terrific. I don't see why you'd need the external crossover, so you could save some money there. I just use the internal crossover in my Titan and use the $30 ACI passive highpass filters. I'd think you could do the same. Just a couple of ideas for you./

Thanks to everyone for your opinions, they have been helpful. I've pulled the trigger and ordered the Rava. Still open to more feedback from those who've heard a Rava doing HT duty.

Graham - I did order it from Creative sound. I've had good success with them in the past (ELF kit) so I thought why not let them worry about the hassle of shipping this thing from the states

Tim - I had considered the Force sub, but it is quite a bit more expensive than the Rava, in fact I could probably get 2 Rava's for the price of a Force. Since I'm not a wealthy man, I went with the Rava. I have very been happy with the Opals (called Spirit when I bought them) for more than 6 years though, so I don't doubt the Force is a high quality piece of kit.

As for the X-30 active crossover, I already own it, so its not costing me anything. In my setup, there are 2 benefits:

1. I prefer the X-30's 3rd order active filter on both the sub and mains to the 1st order passive filter (mains)/4-6th order active filter (sub) that the Force would use.

2. Splitting the freq. range of the mains/sub with the X-30 allows me to power the mains with a separate amp. This is a big advantage in my system, as my reciever (Pioneer 811s) has a nice preamp section, but weak amps. It is much happier powering 4 small speakers (F/R center, R/L surrounds) than all 4 smalls and 2 large towers. I have an old Carver stereo reciever which has more than enough power to drive the Opals. Not sure if I'm explaining the setup properly/clearly, if not feel free to ask.

I think you'll be happy with the Rava. Mine is corner loaded -- more for WAF than sound quality/output, I'm not too proud to admit -- and it really does justice to well-recorded music (I'm a jazz afficianado) while still having plenty of boom and bang for HT.

My room is 23 x 17 x 8 and the Rava was so powerful, I had to order two sound deadening sheets for my Panasonic 47WX49 RPTV to stop its cabinet from rattling!

The BFD will be indispensable in getting the most out of it. I'm interested in eventually getting one for myself.

Do a search here for my name and in the Audio Asylum forum under "dalancroft" for more impressions.

BTW, mine is X-over @ 90 Hz, which is where my Yamaha receiver sets its high/low pass split. Mains are KEF Q15s, DVD player is RP91. Decent HT set-up for the modest investment I've made in it.